Chicken Coop design questions

[EddieWalker]

I've never raised chickens, nor do I know anything about taking care of them. Karen and I want to do this and we are starting to research chicken coops. Being completely ignorant about this has me wondering what questions to even ask. Our plan is to build a coop off the back of my hot tub gazebo. The wall is 12 feet wide with electricity and water in the wall. I'm thinking that I'll make it 6 feet deep, but can go much bigger if there is a reason to do so. I'm also thinking of a concrete floor, but for the life of me, I can't find a single image of anybody doing this online. Is there an advantage to plywood floors?

In a lot of the pictures we are looking at, they are elevated off the ground with posts at the corners. Is there any advantage to doing it this way?

Karen is a nurse and keeping things clean is very important to her, so we are wondering what would be things we should know before building that will make clean up easier?

Should the fenced in pen area have a roof on it?

Should we feed them inside the pen or outside? Part of my plan is to have a covered porch that is at least six feet. Would this be a better place to feed and water them?

On the interior walls, is plywood a good choice or would a plastic type of paneling be better? I'm nervous about wood because of how porous it is and how hard it is to clean.

And most importantly, for those of you who have done this, what did you do right and what did you do wrong?

Thanks,
Eddie

 

[FourSonsFarm]

How many chickens are y'all looking at raising? That will help with the advice of what sizing to make it. Are they going to be layers? That will help with the number of nesting boxes needed.

 

[EddieWalker]

Our goal is to have enough chickens to give us enough eggs to eat every day, and to be able to raise a few for butchering fairly often. We don't know how many we need to do this, so any advice on a number would be much appreciated. We are so new to this we don't even know what type of chickens to get, or how many roosters we should have.

Eddie

 

[FourSonsFarm]

Well, the number of eggs you will get a day largely depends on the breeds you have. Good layers like Rhode Island Reds or Leghorns will usually gave you one a day. Other breeds maybe only one a week. For comparison, we have 29 layers and get about 24 eggs a day +/- 2. We have 6 nesting boxes for them to share and they seem to do fine. We also have the coop elevated which helps with predators like snakes and mice, also makes it so you don't have to bend over all the time.

 

[FourSonsFarm]

I'm on the road right now but I'll post some more info later. We started with chickens about a year and a half ago and love it. I've learn a lot that I'd love to share.

 

[BigE_]

One thing about chickens is that they stink and attract flies. I wouldn't want that just off my hot tub....

We have about 100 chickens, and they are free range. The main coop itself is about 10x10, and then there is a 16x16 covered and wired chicken yard with a separate door. The two are linked through a wired in passage way.

Chickens only lay well for about 2 years. My wife won't kill the chickens that aren't laying, so we have a lot of extra chickens. Plus about 50 are chicks or pullets. We get about 15 eggs per day.

Another option is chicken tractors. Gives the chickens fresh grass and the eggs taste better, but keeps them safe from predators.

 

[DT86]

One thing about chickens is that they stink and attract flies. I wouldn't want that just off my hot tub....

That is exactly what I was thinking.

 

[kdm0811]

My wife is also a nurse, and wants everything spic and span. We have kept about 14 laying hens for going on 8 years now. I am sure that others have more experience than I, but this is my two cents worth.

Consider making your floor dirt, or more specifically sand, with a sand floor, you can rake and pick up the poo with a bedding fork (much like a cat's litter box). Chickens also like to take daily sand baths to help reduce fleas and mites.

I strongly recommend that you design your nesting boxes so that you can collect the eggs without entering the coop. This will keep you shoe soles clean (regardless of the condition within the coop).

We free range our birds on the weekends when we are home to make sure the neighbors dog dosen't come around,... but that is another story.

 

[dmccarty]

Chickens poop, which stinks and can draw flies. We have a sorta movable Chicken Tank that we move around as needed. The Chicken Tank does not have a floor so they chicken poo fertilizes the ground. If you have a floored coop, you will have to keep it covered in wood chips or some such and clean it out frequently. Having an elevated coop allows you to get a wheel barrow under the coop to clean out the wood and poo. I thought of building a coop off the ground and with a floor but I wanted some I could tear down an recover most of the materials if we got rid of the chickens.

A good rule of thumb is that chickens need at least five square feet for each chicken. I think more space is better to keep them from pecking at each other. We started with six chickens in a coop with 64 square feet. One chicken was a ***** and pecked the heck out of the other hens. The most friendly hen we had was almost like a dog and very friendly and eventually died. I think the ***** hen pecked her so much that it caused, or at least made worse, the illness. We gave the problematic hen away because of the one kid who loves the chickens. I would have preferred to have added the chicken to some dumplings.

We now have four hens, two Rhode Islands and two Dominques. Rhode Islands are supposed to be a bit aggressive and Dominques are more laid back. We get around 5-7 eggs per hen per week which is more than enough eggs. We eat a lot of egg salad during the week and eggs for breakfast.

Our place is loaded with predators so we have to keep the chickens well protected hence the Chicken Tank. Right now the Tank is in our fenced garden so we can let the hens out to free range. My chores list contains a more dedicated chicken run that will be covered. We have not lost a hen to a predator but we have seen owls and hawks eye balling the hens. Kinda surprised we have not lost a hen yet.

If it was up to me we would get rid of the hens since they take up a bunch of the wifey's time. We could buy eggs cheaper than the feed costs and the time spent on the chickens. Supposedly our hens eggs are healthier but I can't prove it. The chickens are really pets not live stock...

Later,
Dan

 

[RoMad]

I would also recommend a chicken tractor. If you google chicken tractor you will find plenty of them to look at. Chickens love to scratch the ground and thier manure is very good fertilizer. I can always tell where my chicken tractor has been parked because the grass is greener there.
I made mine out of two 4" pieces of galvenized pipe for the runners and then built is up from that. Mine is 8' wide by 16' long and about 7' tall. We started out with 15 baby chicks but now are down to 6 and that is really plenty of eggs for three small families. Rhode Island Reds seem to do well here in Fl. They lay almost an egg a chicken a day. We try to move the chicken tractor once a week but sometimes it is a little longer than that. I have a couple of pictures of it that I will post later.

 

[sal64]

if you have preditors you need a chickenwire roof for the pen.for the coop plywood walls and plywood flore because you can scrape the poop with a garden hoe in a pile then shovel it out, then sprinkel lime on the clean flore. feed them inside so you arent feeding mice and rats, lock them up at night in the coop.you only need like 6 hens to start buff orpington are good layers.Brown Egg Layers - Buff Orpington Chicks | Brown Egg Layers | Chicks and Game Birds from Stromberg's |.

 

[RAYJAY]

hey Eddie were thinking of doing a couple of chickens next spring also here is a link i found that looks cool for chicken trains /wagons

Raising BackYard Chickens, Build a Chicken Coop, Pictures of Breeds

 

[RoMad]

I didn't mention in my earlier post but I wrapped my chicken tractor with chain link fence. My brother-in-law found out the hard way that chicken wire is real good at keeping chickens in but not very good at keeping skunks, possum, and other critters out. I had a bunch of 7' heavy duty chain link that I got for free and it worked great. My frame is all made out of used pipe and I just hung it on it and tied it with galvanized wire. I did put a roof on about half of it so they can get in the shade and I made them an enclosed part to roost in and also egg boxes on the back that can be opened from the outside to get the eggs. No matter how many boxes you put on they will mostly share one or two.
Chickens are very mean to each other so make sure you get them all the same size or the big ones will peck the little ones to death.
They are also fun to watch scratch for bugs. Sometimes I will catch a cricket or worm and throw in with them and they go crazy after it. One will catch it and then run from all of the others while trying to eat it.

 

[EddieWalker]

I'm leaning strongly towards building a permanent coop. I'm rethinking my plan of building off of the hot tub gazebo. I'm thinking that a it might be better to be a stand alone building in the middle of a fenced in chicken pen. The coop will act like the post for the center of the roof fencing, and I'll set some posts for the walls.

I like the idea of a sand floor, but Karen is really wanting concrete so she can clean it up better. Having access to check the eggs from the outside sounds like a great idea. I'm adding that to my plans.

Thank you,
Eddie

 

[paulemar]

I built my coop 12x 8 because lumber can be purchased in those dimensions without waste cuts. It is raised above ground and I used decking boards for the floor and then covered the floor under the roost area with those cement boards because most of the poo ends up there and it is easier to shovel clean. The end wall roost area is covered with 1 x 2 galvanized welded wire top and front to keep the chickens out of their own poo area. It is on hinges so I can lift it up, hook it to a chain and clean under it. Walls are particle board, painted and insulated for these PA winters. I have 5 built in nests, a ramped closeable door to the wired 12 X 15 outside yard which is covered with a silver tarp. That tarp needs replaced every 3 years or so. One suggestion is to get some 1 X 2 cage material for the outside run. it is more expensive, but chicken wire is not as good as it used to be and will deteriorate in very few years and you will be replacing it. It is not fun removing old rusted chicken wire so you can replace it. My chickens also have a swing out in the yard and they actually use it all the time.

Make a plan for the coop, think and research it then make modifications to your plan to suit your needs.

 

[jeffinsgf]

Eddie,

I strongly suggest you spend some time at backyardchickens.com, linked in RayJay's post. There is as much wisdom about chickens there as there is about tractors here.

Elevated coops are easier to predator-proof than ground level. That's why you see some many designs with elevated coops. The area under the coop gives them some shade, too. Look at the one at backyardchickens call the "Wichita". That's roughly what I built, though mine is on runners where I can move it around.

If it's just the two of you, 4 or 5 chickens will keep you covered in eggs once they start laying.

Just passing on some personal experience here. My first batch of chickens we raised from day old chicks. They put themselves to bed in the coop like clockwork. Something got all but one of them all at once, during the day while we were away. Never have figured out what happened, there wasn't a single feather left behind. Anyway, I replaced them with a couple of hens that were already laying and some pullets that were at point-of-lay (18 weeks old, just about ready to start laying). Those older chickens just wouldn't adapt to the coop and regardless of how long I would lock them up, when I started letting them free range again, they would nest in the trees instead of going into the coop. That worked for several months, but finally a coon found their tree roost and got them all.

So, my point is, if you're going to free range them (and I suggest that you do), start with day old chicks. It's a 5-6 month wait for egg production, but there will be less squabbling about pecking order and you can teach them where to bed down.

And, I'd ditch the concrete floor idea. Just cover the floor in rice hulls and change them out every 5 or 6 weeks. Stockpile the rice hull/chicken manure mix and use it on the garden next spring. Chickens habitually scratch the ground, and they will tear their feet up on concrete.

 

[bcjmmac]

Deep litter is the answer if you don't want smells, etc, & don't want to deal with a chicken tractor. Use a sand/clay floor (preferably with some drainage although you can use concrete), put in some organic material (some compost if available) & let the chickens do their thing. The organic matter will soak up their droppings and compost naturally/the chickens will eat any bugs that appear - only have to clean it every 6 months or so.
More info here; http://naturalchickenkeeping.blogspot.com/p/deep-litter-method.html

 

[NorTracNY]

Eddie,

Everyone's situation is different. You've gotten a lot of good guidance already. I built a chicken tractor and used it for many years until I got tired of it. Now I have a permanent structure. Think about how many eggs you want a week. Remember that the chickens won't lay for 4months (golden comets) to 6-8months (Americanas). The chickens will lay very well for about 2-3 years then really drop off. You're going to have to figure out how to add every year or other year so you always have eggs coming in.

I'm in the north, so things are different for me. The chicken tractor in the winter was a pain. Our predators have been hawks and fox. I free range, but only about 30% of the time. I've learned when the fox are most likely a problem (May/June & early or late in the day).

I like the permenant coop because when I get new chicks (every year), I built a small chicken wire structure that I put right into the coop for the chicks. This allows me to take care of the chickens all in one spot and the integration of the young with old has gone A LOT smoother. As they get older, I create an entrance for the chicks to go through that the big birds can't. So the can run away from the big ones when they need to.

Being able to collect the eggs from the outside is great. I'd also suggest you build a tray which can be pulled out to clean off most of the poop. This is a tray that goes under the roosts. Allow this to be pulled out from the outside and cleaning will be a piece of cake. (Oh, the wife learned that the better eggs (orange yolks) make it hard to make a white cake ). If you're able to take care of most of the poop and eggs from the outside of the coop, consider also how you'll handle the food and water. It's great if you don't have to go into the coop too often.

Best of luck.

 

[tractorshopper]

I built a permanent coop and use straw in the floor. About every 2 or 3 months, I get the straw up with a pitchfork and throw on areas of the lawn that can't grow anything. I then throw down fresh straw. This also gives them something to peck at while I keep them penned. I have learned to let mine free range several times a week for the last hour or two of the day, then close the coop back up at dusk when they come back in and roost on their posts.

The first two years after they start laying, you'll get about an egg a day per bird. I have tried a bunch of different kinds and like them all. The Buff Orbington eggs are good, but they have been the most agressive bird I've had. The second most agressive in my experience is the Rhode Island Red. My favorites are Americauna's (blue-green eggs), Silver Wyandotte's (beautiful birds - brown eggs), Yellow and Red Sexlinks (Brown Eggs). If I knew how to post a link I would, but if you search under my threads, you'll see the coop I built including the nesting box that I can access from outside. My coop is much like my neighbor's as I mostly copied his coop, but asked him what he would do different and he said add nesting boxes. After reading around, I came up with the idea to access it from outside and just built it that way. I love it and wouldn't change a thing.

Also, for those saying that they stink, well that's true in large numbers and tight spaces. My coop never stinks with up to 6 birds at a time. One section is 8X8 and the other section is 8X10. Only time it ever stunk is when I was brooding 4 new chicks and 4 new ducks this spring. It was the ducks that made it stink. Once I got the ducks out on their own now, the coop is back to non-stinking.

 

[tractorshopper]

Also, I have a 5 gallon watering dish and 7 gallon feeder. I fill the feed maybe once every 3 weeks and change the water every Sunday, although during fall, winter and spring could go maybe a week and a half with 6 birds, but change it to make it clean anyway.